LORAIN -- Police say a man suspected of prior thefts from a department store was arrested in the act on Friday as he was observed leaving a changing room looking bulkier than he had been when he entered.

Brian White, 25, of Knollwood Road in Parma, was arrested on charges of petty theft, possessing drug abuse instruments, possession of cocaine, possession of drug paraphernalia and tampering with evidence.

An officer was called to Kohl's, 3080 Jaeger Road, by loss prevention officers when they noticed White enter the store. The officer watched via security cameras as White entered a changing room with a number of different items, according to a Lorain Police Report.

When White exited, he took a few pieces of clothes and put them back on the rack, the report said. The officer noticed, though, that White's shorts appeared to be much bulkier than they had been when he entered the room.

The officer was able to catch White and take him to the police station, where officers searched him and found a used needle and a knife in his pocket, the report said.

The extra pairs of shorts, totalling $238, were removed from White and brought back to the patrol car. While at the car, the officer noticed that a glass pipe was under the driver's side chair, the same side White had been sitting on, the report said. The pipe tested positive for cocaine.

White was arraigned on Monday in the Lorain Municipal Court, where he waived his right to a preliminary hearing.